Brooks saddles restoring tips?

[Teuchter]

Agreed. I bought a (new) Brooks B17 five years ago and just couldn't get on with it even after well over 1000 miles of attempted breaking in. It wasn't bad... just not as good as the mythology had led me to expect.

I've recently come back to it, moving it from an occasional bike to my main daily bike to replace an old San Marco Rolls that was on there and am now, somehow loving it, finding it much better than both the San Marco it replaced and the Charge Spoons that are on two of my other bikes.

Interested to see the end result of this restoration. The price of a new Brooks would be a significant proportion of the total value of some of my old bikes that I would like to fit one to so older ones may have to be an option. I would worry that my ar$e wasn't the same shape as the previous owner's though!

 

[Davidc]

I had a Brooks B15 on my Holdsworth Cyclone 1966 model. it had holes in it and was as wide as that one. I think the design changed about then. A mate (with more money) bought a Holdsworth Mistral 1968 model with a B15 that was narrower, but I can't remember about holes. Brooks customer service might be able to give some background on the design history, they're helpful and proud of their product.

After that bike was stolen I bought another Brooks saddle, a B17, and have used those ever since rather than the B15. I'd never choose anything else for rides over an hour long.

I've never worn one out, I had one nicked, one chewed up by mice, one sold with its bike, and one currently in use. Apart from when new they've all had an annual dose of proofide and been well polished by my backside, and sorry, I've never had to do a restoration so can't pass on any tips.

If that saddle restores it should be good for another 50 years of cycling comfort.

.... I would worry that my ar$e wasn't the same shape as the previous owner's though!

When I sold the B17 with its bike I said that to the man buying it (a work colleague). He still wanted it, and told me about a month later that it was fine and had become comfortable. His previous one was found by Suffolk police in the river Gipping about 6 months later, together with its bike, neither were restorable.

 

[taximan]

I bought a Sun Snipe fitted with a Brooks saddle way back in 1962 and we did many of thousands miles together. In about 1970 the bike was consigned to the rafters in the garage and stayed there until 2010. In the December of that year I had a senior moment and bought a BSO gaspipe special on the internet and hit the roads again after 40 years and renewed my acquaintance with the joys of cycling.After the first outing I removed the saddle that came with the bike and consigned it to the dustbin, I then retrieved my old saddle and fitted it to my BSO. (I imagine this probably doubled the value of the bike) In all that time I have never had to make any adjustment to the tension of the saddle and never treated it with anything. It is tatty now but still very comfortable.

 

[tyred]

1. Dig hole
2. Put Brooks saddle in hole
3. Shovel earth back over saddle and sprinkle garlic and holy water over hole
4. Buy a proper saddle

Heathen.

Pass the hammer and the wooden stake.

 

[Manonabike]

1. Dig hole
2. Put Brooks saddle in hole
3. Shovel earth back over saddle and sprinkle garlic and holy water over hole
4. Buy a proper saddle

Where is the icon to dislike a post?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

1. Dig hole
2. Put Brooks saddle in hole
3. Shovel earth back over saddle and sprinkle garlic and holy water over hole
4. Buy a proper saddle

Troll...

 

[Bill Soens]

Hello each and all. Interesting reading all the above. From 1957 onwards in my business "Eddie Soens Cycles", Liverpool, I "treated" hundreds of new, very hard Brooks saddles mainly because riding on a new one had a tendency to have untold effects on one's manhood ! These were almost all Brooks B17 "narrow". The B15 range was the lower grade leather.

I used neatsfoot oil - as indicated by someone above - and I also warmed the leather in an oven. Be VERY, VERY, VERY careful in not getting it too hot, otherwise you can then bin it. Much easier to work with warm leather. I would drill out the small-headed rivets and replace with copper ones at least a half inch across and file these down to be flush with the leather. In addition I would cut the leather flush with the frame at the rear and also cut off the saddle bag loops. Finally I would cut off the nose a little, ultimately creating a saddle to race on. The saddle in the photo is a B15 "Standard" which is quite wide. You can alter this by crushing in the side frame a little but putting the inner wire and the side frame in a vice, each side. DON'T open the vice wide and put the whole saddle in; in this way you will reduce the width of the saddle pin frame.

Frankly, there's no reason for doing any of this in view of the excellent range of saddleware available nowadays, other than the simple satisfaction of achieving something.

Bill

 

[compo]

1. Dig hole
2. Put Brooks saddle in hole
3. Shovel earth back over saddle and sprinkle garlic and holy water over hole
4. Buy a proper saddle

Thanks for the giggle!
I still like my Brooks though

 

[Davidc]

Hello each and all. Interesting reading all the above. From 1957 onwards in my business "Eddie Soens Cycles", Liverpool, I "treated" hundreds of new, very hard Brooks saddles mainly because riding on a new one had a tendency to have untold effects on one's manhood ! These were almost all Brooks B17 "narrow". The B15 range was the lower grade leather.

I used neatsfoot oil - as indicated by someone above - and I also warmed the leather in an oven. Be VERY, VERY, VERY careful in not getting it too hot, otherwise you can then bin it. Much easier to work with warm leather. I would drill out the small-headed rivets and replace with copper ones at least a half inch across and file these down to be flush with the leather. In addition I would cut the leather flush with the frame at the rear and also cut off the saddle bag loops. Finally I would cut off the nose a little, ultimately creating a saddle to race on. The saddle in the photo is a B15 "Standard" which is quite wide. You can alter this by crushing in the side frame a little but putting the inner wire and the side frame in a vice, each side. DON'T open the vice wide and put the whole saddle in; in this way you will reduce the width of the saddle pin frame.

Frankly, there's no reason for doing any of this in view of the excellent range of saddleware available nowadays, other than the simple satisfaction of achieving something.

Bill

So, going back into the mists of time (1968) what was the difference between my mates B15 on his Mistral (1968 model) and the one on my Cyclone (1966 model)? Both from Holdsworth with the saddles as original equipment and advertised as B15s.

 

[Bill Soens]

Sorry buy 1968 and 1966 are not "in the mists of time" for me - they are fairly recent; so I cannot answer your question on "modern" stuff.
Bill

 

[Bill Soens]

Me again; above second word should be "but" and not "buy". Old eyes and fingers. Bill

 

[Kins]

You could have just edited the post and no-one would have know about your fat fingers!

Saddle is looking loads better after some treatment with Carrs (very smelly) leather oil, drying it out abit and then adding some leather conditioner/polish/waterproofer.

I am sure once it has an ass on it it will shine up more. Still undecided as to whether to change the rivets. Time will tell.

 

[ColinJ]

Where is the icon to dislike a post?

It's right next to the icon for 'liking'!

 

[threefingerjoe]

I'm interested in hearing more about "I would drill out the small-headed rivets and replace with copper ones at least a half inch across and file these down to be flush with the leather." I have a B-67 with the small steel rivets, which protrude above the surface of the saddle, and was thinking about trying to replace them with larger copper rivets which could be hammered down flatter, so that they would be more flush with the leather. How hard is this to do? I presume that the rivets can be drilled from the bottom side, so as to be removed without damaging the leather? Any advise?

 

[Bill Soens]

Not familiar with the B67 and small steel rivets. I used to drill the old rivets out from the upper side ,taking great care not to wander on to the leather and would do one at a time time. i.e. drill one out and replace that with a half inch copper one, then do a second one and so on. In that way you keep the saddle shape. But as I point out I don't know the B67 so you have to make that choice yourself. Bill